Smugglers flood Nigerian markets with expired rice

SMUGGLERS seem to have taken over the Nigerian rice market, flooding the country with toxic and expired prod­ucts. Reports of hundreds of trailers crossing the porous borders of the country are be­coming worrisome in recent weeks, endangering govern­ment’s plans to achieve self-sufficiency in rice production.
Consequently, stakehold­ers have urged the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to curb smuggling while call­ing on NAFDAC to take ur­gent action by inspecting rice stored at several locations across the country. Supply of expired and poisonous rice to unsuspecting consumers could rapidly develop into a major health disaster if left unchecked. The group asked the attention of the Presidency and concerned departments so that corrective action could be taken immediately.
With unmet demand of more than 3 million tonnes annually and owing to inade­quate local production, Nige­ria’s rice needs are currently restricted for legal imports due to high import tariff and lack of cohesive policy.
Nigerian importers are ex­pected to pay full tariff of 70 per cent compared to smug­glers who enjoy a free ride into the market, with little tariffs in neighbouring Cam­eroon and Republic of Be­nin, taking advantage of po­rous borders. This is even as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had since restricted access to foreign exchange for rice imports, among other products, choking the import supply chain.
Observers believe the shortage in the market was now being exploited by smugglers.
Recently, the National Rice Millers Association of Ni­geria (NRMAN), had com­plained that the NCS erred in its decision to lift the ban on importation of rice through the land borders. The Chair­man of the association said if the customs succeeds in its decision, it would destroy Nigeria’s rice value chain at­tained by the previous admin­istration.
There have been reports that huge influx of imported rice have been noticed in the market from last Saturday, the worst affected being Lagos and South West. Rice arrives in big trailers with 1200- 1500 numbers of 50kg bags from Cotonou. There is sub­stantial under-declaration and non-payment aspects in these shipments, making it non-via­ble for legal importers and lo­cal producers to compete with these shipments.
The Chairman of Seaport Terminal Operators Asso­ciation of Nigeria (STOAN), Vicky Haastrup, puts the lo­cal production capacity at 30 per cent. “It is a fact that local production cannot match local demand, which creates a rec­ipe for smuggling,” she said.